'Boondocks' Comic Strip Going on Hiatus

AP ^ | 2/28/6 | MATT SEDENSKY

[SmithL]

Kansas City, Mo. -- The Boondocks, the black comic-strip family living in white suburbia, are going on vacation.

Aaron McGruder, the cartoonist behind the strip syndicated in about 350 American newspapers, said Tuesday he would take about six months off beginning in March.

"Every well needs occasional refreshing," he wrote in a letter to be sent to editors of newspapers carrying the strip. "I hope that this fall you will agree that the time away from the demands of deadlines has served the strip, your readers and me."

McGruder offered no further explanation and declined interviews. He has been doing double duty on "Boondocks" since last fall when he brought it to the Cartoon Network as a weekly show.

His editor at Universal Press Syndicate, Greg Melvin, said McGruder simply needed a break.

"Deadlines are hard on everybody, but deadlines are especially hard on creative people," Melvin said. "When six months have passed, hopefully his batteries will be recharged."

The last new comic before the hiatus will appear March 26. Papers can run old "Boondocks" strips or a replacement until it returns in October.

"The Boondocks" has been distributed by Kansas City-based Universal Press since April 1999. It touches on racial issues, pop culture and politics as it chronicles the lives of Huey Freeman, his little brother, Riley, and their eccentric grandfather, who moved them from south Chicago to the suburbs.

The strip's frequent criticism of everything from the Bush administration and post-9/11 policies to black television network BET has made it a source of controversy.

[Constitution Day]

I always TiVo much of Adult Swim, except for the anime.

'Boondocks', however, has received a three-thumbs-down rating from me.

[Mr. Blonde]

I have only watched it a little bit. And really the only thing amusing is the Charlie Murphy and Samuel L. Jackson characters who make fun of wannabe gang members.

[Constitution Day]

I have seen those guys.
I got the impression that they are meant to symbolize Bush and either Rumsfeld or Cheney?

(One has a giant "W" necklace, the other a red-white-and-blue headband)

[Mr. Blonde]

I didn't really get that from it. At the beginning on an episode they practice robbing a bank that is owned by an uncle. And they seem to be otherwise fairly well off. It seemed to me to be a statement about rich people who want to adopt the thug lifestyle. Or wealthy rappers who still like to act like they are "from the streets".

[Constitution Day]

*shrugs*
You may be right. Honestly, I haven't seen enough of it to be certain.

[JRios1968]

I only wish I could give it more than 3 Thumbs Down on my TiVo!

[Rastus]

Bumping this old news because it just got mentioned in the Dallas Morning News today. When McGruder takes aim at current events, like he did with the Cheney incident, it's stupid and predictable. His "I don't draw mass murderers" response to a question of whether he would ever feature Condi Rice in his strip was idiotic. But, I do have to admit that the strip can be funny when it isn't political. The strips revolving around Huey's grandfather are usually pretty good. There was one series where he was clueless about the gay content of Brokeback Mountain, so he and a buddy went hoping to see an old-fashioned western. The more recent "grandpa puts up a myspace page" was pretty on-target.

I actually would have pegged McGruder as a conservative back during the Clinton years, when he was mainly taking aim at the leftist black leadership. I guess the Bush victory pushed him over the edge. I actually can't believe I would still look at the strip today, because I'm not one to tolerate leftist moonbattery from my entertainment. I guess I'd say I'm not a fan, but there is sometime a diamond amongst the trash.